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Regarding Aditya-L1, the year 2026 is expected to be truly unique.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit last year – will be able to watch the Sun when it reaches its maximum activity cycle.

As per scientific data, this occurs roughly every 11 years when the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent could be the planet's poles changing places.

This period marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from calm to stormy and features a significant rise in the frequency of solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – enormous clouds of plasma that erupt of the Sun's outermost layer.

Composed of ionized particles, a CME can weigh up to a trillion kilograms and reach a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, even toward our planet. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or low-activity times, the Sun emits two to three CMEs daily," says an astrophysics expert. "Next year, we expect there will be 10 or more daily."

Studying CMEs ranks among the most important scientific objectives of India's maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to learn about the star at the centre of our solar system, and secondly, since events occurring on the solar surface threaten systems on our planet and in space.

Impacts on Earth and Space Infrastructure

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose a direct threat to human life, yet they impact our planet by causing geomagnetic storms affecting conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including Indian satellites, are stationed.

"The most beautiful manifestations from solar eruptions include northern lights, being direct evidence that charged particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist explains.

"However, they may cause electronic systems aboard spacecraft fail, disable power grids and affect meteorological and telecom spacecraft."

Historical Solar Incidents

• The most powerful solar storm in history was the 1859 solar superstorm which knocked out telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Quebec's power grid failed, affecting millions in darkness for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to chaos across Scandinavia and some other European air hubs
• In February 2022, an ejection had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

With capability to observe events in the solar atmosphere and spot a solar storm or solar eruption in real time, record its temperature at the source and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to shut down electrical systems and spacecraft redirecting them to safety.

The Mission's Unique Advantage

There are other solar missions observing our star, India's spacecraft has an advantage over others regarding watching the corona.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to nearly mimic lunar coverage, fully covering the solar disk and allowing it an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire solar atmosphere 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even during eclipses and occultations," says the researcher.

In other words, the coronagraph acts like an artificial Moon, blocking the solar glare allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – something the real Moon provide only during eclipses.

Additionally, it's unique that can study solar events in visible light, letting it measure a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data indicating the intensity of an eruption when traveling our direction.

Preparation for Maximum Activity

In preparation for next year's peak solar activity period, researchers worked together to study the data gathered from a major CMEs that Aditya-L1 has recorded until now.

It originated on 13 September 2024 during early hours. The eruption's weight was 270 million tonnes – for comparison that struck the ship was 1.5 million tonnes.

At origin, the heat reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of explosives – in comparison the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Although these figures seem massive, the expert describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The asteroid which wiped out prehistoric life on Earth carried enormous energy and when solar peak occurs, we could see CMEs carrying power matching greater levels.

"In my view this eruption we evaluated to have occurred when the Sun of typical solar activity. This establishes the benchmark for future comparison to evaluate what is in store during solar maximum arrives," he states.

"The insights from this will help us work out the countermeasures to implement safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. Additionally, they'll aid achieving a better understanding of our space environment," he concludes.